Introducing STOMPERS

Last fall, I started learning Swift and SwiftUI. I quickly realized that engineering is not my core competency, and while it’s fun to learn, it’s not the best way for me to use my time. While learning to code, I experimented with a step-tracking app with a public leaderboard. The result was a boring product experience that didn’t work super well because I am bad at backend engineering.

However, this work sparked a conversation with a friend about building a real competitive step-tracking game.

The initial MVP I designed was still quite boring and we went through thousands of iterations. Ultimately, we created Stompers, a step-tracking app where you can walk with friends in a daily game. Along the way, you can pick up items and sabotage each other’s step count.

With no funding and a part-time three-person team, this app is far from perfect. Still, it’s been fun to use the last few weeks. Whether it’s getting a notification that my wife hit me with a bat and knocked me back hundreds of steps, or customizing my Stomper to look like me once we got the character creation flow working, the app feels fun and fresh.

Today, Stompers goes live.

You can download Stompers for free today on the App Store (sorry, no Android yet). I know this isn’t technically a satirical interface, but I’m writing this newsletter at 4:30 in the morning after seeing that we passed App Store Review, so this is what you get today.

If you do download the app, let me know what you think.

Have a friend who walks all the time? Send them this newsletter.

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